United Terra
by Coo-Hatch
Summary: When the United Terran Alliance encounter the Citadel, the Galaxy will never be the same again.
1. chapter 1

2024 AD: Humanity discovers that that a species of marine cetacean(aquatic mammal group descended from hoofed predatory animals) are in fact sophonts(Terran term for sentient species). The bottlenose dolphin(Tursiops truncatus) is given human rights, and all hunting of them is considered murder. They are given the designation of sophont.

2027: Humans create a device in order to speak with dolphins, and find much in common with the species.

2030:Dolphins are given representation in surface world politics.

2037:Large exosuits are created for Dolphins to walk on land, and are given to dolphins as a show of goodwill. An extremely simple Dolphin religion spreads like wildfire through humanity, involving a sky and sea God who judge your actions in this life using a coral piece, if the coral floats, you ascend to an eternal paradise in which everything you need is there, if the coral sinks, you go to the deepest depths, never to be seen again, and are tortured for eternity. Curiously, ancient tales speak of squids the size of whales coming from the skies, and being destroyed by their own creations, and that they came from these ancient beings experiments.

2039:First Dolphin murder by human is recorded, a man going by the name of John Handel killed a female Dolphin by knife cut to several oil lines, and results in said Dolphin dying by swallowing oil, said females name was Mother of 1, Life Giver from the Southern Ocean, Hard Swimmer, and her final name was, First Sorrow, in that she was the first to be murdered by a human. Handels reasoning for killing her was he was tired of the 'fishes' for taking his and several coworkers jobs at the local industrial plant, as Dolphins work out of a sense of duty, not reward, and are therefore employed quite often, due to the fact that Dolphins also have a form of OCD, ensuring the job is done right, and are usually paid only in food. John was convicted at a Dolphin council and sentenced to Savage Death, their form of death penalty by leaving someone in shark infested waters, or giving them to an orca pod to use as sport until death. He was last seen at the Red Triangle, on shore with seals.

2044:The first Dolphin human relationships occur, causing protests from humans, believing it was against the Judeo Christian God, Allah, and Yahweh. A woman protects her Dolphin lover from an armed teenage assailant and is killed, her lover then retaliates by using his robotic arms to slaughter the teenager. Dolphins name was Lover of Games, Protector of Mate, and Avenging One. He is given no punishment, due to the crime being a crime of temporary insanity, and he becomes fully insane from the death of his lover, Cynthia Goldbridge, and eventually commits suicide after drinking heavily.

2056:Humans use genetic engineering technology to uplift dogs to sophont level, resulting in creation of Canis sapiens, resembling anthropomorphic dogs, they have gained longer digits and thumbs, upright stance, and intelligence. Due to unforeseen complications in engineering process, they retain their dog heads, but have an otherwise normal intelligence.

2057:Canids become productive members of society, New engineering technology also results in dolphins gaining arms.

2067:First historic Dolphin spaceflight to Mars results in discovery of ancient alien ruins on Mars.

2069:Ruins are found to belong to an ancient race that used radically advanced technology to create a devastating empire. Due to sheer luck, a member of the scientific team discovers the remains of one of the aliens outside the ruins in an enclosed cavern, after falling into aforementioned cavern.

2078:Cloning of the alien specimen begins.

2089:The alien is recreated, with extreme work used on the neural cells to recreate subjects genetic memory. Said subject is a male of the Prothean race, named Janjur, and helps recreate his species technology, involving a substance known as element zero, or eezo. He doesn't remember all aspects of his life, and says that all he really remembers was a feeling of fear and anger for most of his previous life.

2098:First Dolphin ambassador to humanity dies, second one is elected.

2116:Male human by name of Vaughn Campbell discovers that Keplar 182 bears life by chance patrol through the system. Discovers planet has life that evolved from Cretaceus Terran stock.

2116:Vaughn is given permission to land on world to make first contact with sophont oviraptosaur.

2116:Sophont that calls themselves the Sanhanae, and believe Vaughn to be an emissary from the stars, there to show them their great past again.

2119:Sanhanae now fully inducted into the now called United Terrans Alliance.

2134:Splicing becomes a major fad, UTA citizens use the DNA of multiple species to enhance themselves, resulting in a melting pot of traits among species, such as Canids having scales, or Dolphins having Prothean body armor, or humans with Sanhanae feathers.

2156:UTA encounter deadly species known as the Skeru, a species of collectivists that consider the UTA an abomination against life, and set out to destroy the UTA.

2157:Skeru are wiped out singlehandedly by the UTA due to the bravery of a Dolphin captain by the name of Swimming Joker, Father of 3, and Savior of Terra. He piloted his Dolphin fighter going at FTL speeds and hit the planet, resulting in a catastrophic extinction event on the planet.

2164:A discovery of a large mass effect teleportation system excite the UTA into using the now dubbed, 'Terran Teleporter' and is thrust into a war dubbed, the First Contact War, with a avian/feline race known as Turians.

2167:UTA wins the First Contact War, and forces turians to become a client race. Discovery of another coalition of species makes the UTA weary, but hopeful.


	2. 2

The UTA diplomatic team consisted of a single diplomat from each sophont, Human, Dolphin, Canid, and Sanhanae. The Dolphin, Never Swam, was in a sleek white floating suit, his arms covered in water held by a thin mass effect field, and a star with a dolphins head in the middle indicated he was a practitioner of the Light of Life religion. The Canid, Jux, was in a deep red skintight outfit the color signifying his planet of birth, Mars, he was a Malamut breed. The Sanhanae, Roka, was wearing nothing, only his brilliant indigo and orange plumage, and sweeping red and green head crest. Rex Shepard, the Human, he wore a steel grey outfit with the UTA insignia, showing the hands of each sophont coming together to hold the Earth.

They were docking at this moment, and soon, they would meet the councilors of the Citadel. The doors opened, a large table was present, and doors on the opposite side. Out from the other doors came the other diplomats.

Councillor Tevos of the Asari, Councillor Edern of the Salarians, Councillor Sparatus of the Turians, and Councillor Cuhi of the Batarians.

They each took they're seats, and the Councillors each pulled up a file on they're omnitools.

Tevos spoke first. "Greetings from the Citadel, I apologize but, I only know your names and species, I hope to get better acquainted."

Rex nodded, and Never Swam made a series of clicks, representing approval. Rex spoke first,"As do we, I would like to ask, why were we attacked in the first place?"

Sparatus spoke up, though his voice was full of disdain,"My people found you trying to activate a dormant Mass Relay, a series of ancient devices banned from use due to the risks of discovering a hostile species, we were merely upholding our laws,"

Never Swam made a few clicks, then shook his head from side to side,"My people have a saying,'To know what is the code, and break the code is a crime, to be ignorant of the code, and commit the crime, is innocence', My point being, if we had known that we were committing a crime, we would not have activated the Relay, but why attack, why were we not given a chance to explain ourselves?"

Sparatus really didn't want answer that, Desolus Arterius, the one who should have been here, who should have been answering these questions, was torn apart by a warbeast of the avian race, the Sanh-whatever.

"The turians assumed you a primitive species, a possible client race, not a coalition of advanced species." Edern answered, knowing the turian was too proud to admit the truth.

A growl was heard at the table, coming from Jux,"You mean to tell me, you have a First Contact situation, and you see a potentially profitable slave race!" He was growling deeply. All Canids were highly opposed to slavery, considering their ancestors to have been oppressed for thousands of years, going so far as to not work if they see they will not be rewarded equally.

Never Swam reached out and patted the Canid on the head, the Canid calming,"Remeber Jux, seek peace, not anger my friend."

Roka finally spoke up,"Enough of this, I wish to know if we will receive proper reparations for this war," his tone spoke of absolute authority.

Sparatus really didn't seem to care though,"Reparations? I would expect the bending of the Hierarchy into a client race would be payment enough,"

Never Swam seemed to get a little annoyed at the shiny aliens attitudinal ways,"You seem to forget, in the last few weeks of the war, when it became evident you would lose, one of your ships bombarded a Dolphin colony world, Seas of Algae, with asteroids from the nearby belt, and killed millions of Dolphins, Canids, Humans, and Sanhanae, we deserve help in rebuilding that world,"

Tevos spoke up and was incensed at the way Sparatus was acting,"Sparatus, I would like it if you left this meeting, you only seem to be a hindrance at the moment."

"But-"

"Now," Edern interrupted, angry at the turian.

Sparatus stomped out of the room into the pod, waiting for the meeting to end.

"Finally, he was becoming a real crook in my back, and don't worry, reparations will be paid, and we will offer a council seat to your lead race."

Rex answered, his steely expression never changing,"I'm sorry Tevos, we will accept the reparations happily, but I don't think that's going to happen."

Tevos was confused and frowned, she wasn't expecting this,"Why not, if I may ask?"

Never Swam answered,"You see, you are an unequal society, you offer us a seat only because you fear our might, but we have no reason to harm you, yet. Your law stipulates genetic engineering is illegal, but if we see fit to, we will uplift a race, and guide them. The Batarian Hegemony somehow gets around your laws, and commits open slaving operations, your bureaucracy gets very little actually done, and we cannot accept due to the fact there is no lead race, we are all sophonts, and as such deserve equality, we share, we help each other, we love each other, and that is why we will not join you, though we can become mutual partners, traders, and allies in general."

Cuhi though was furious,"We do no such thing, those are pirates and we have not-"

Jux growled deeply, and bared his teeth,"Shut your lying trap, or I will tear out your tongue and feed it to my pups, they have never had xeno tongue, perhaps yours shall be the first."

Cuhi shut up at that.'You don't insult the Hegemony, you'll find out soon enough.' He thought maliciously.

Edern decided to speak up,"We would still like to have an ambassador from each of your races, if that is agreeable?."

Rex smiled for once, and agreed,"That could work, and I think this diplomatic meeting has solved what we've come for."

Tevos nodded, and sighed, weary from the fear something bad could happen,"I believe so, I hope you each have a wonderful day."

"May the eternal light protect, and may your womb be filled with new life at each opportunity."

Tevos didn't know what to make of the aquatic aliens goodbye, but she answered with a religious good bye as well, "May the Goddess protect."

And with that they left, each pondering what would happen next.


	3. 3

Mindoir

Children played, adults bathed in the sunlight, and pets relaxed at their masters feet. It was a wonderful day for little Elizabeth Shepard, wearing a beautiful dress with yellow dandelions on it, her favorite flower.

Her father was sitting next to his wife, Loving Mother of Two. She was playing with her best friend,Guio, a Golden Retriver breed Canid, and her adopted brother, Lover of Insects, he was wearing his special glasses and looking at an interesting Tri Beetle, this one having a white shell, instead of the normal black.

"Hmm, your very interesting, I wonder, could I publish you?" He asked the insect, still young enough to wonder if it might answer back.

But he was knocked over and the beetle flew away,"No! Come back!"

He went chasing after it in his 8 legged mech suit, custom made to look like a wolf spider. But he just wasn't fast enough, and lost the beetle. He turned and scuttled back to the spot where he fell, finding a laughing Elizabeth rolling in the orange and green flowers and blue grass.

"Why did you push me, that was a good specimen, I could have entered him in Insect of the Week for Biology Monthly!"

She slowly stopped laughing and got up, and, still smiling, told him,"Oh you don't need bugs, what about your sister, what if she wants to play with you?"

He squinted and turned away, mumbling. She shrugged and ran off, playing with Guio, the Canid boy running much faster than her, though she was born with a secret advantage. She stopped and unbuttoned some flaps on the back of her shirt, and let a pair of gossamer wings come through, looking like a mix between a bats wings, and a dragonflies, with tiny bones arranged like fingers going through them. On her calves, finlike protrusions extended, meant to be used as rudders for her flight.

She flapped and got off the ground, and soared, easily beating her friend in a race. "No fair, your cheating," he yelled at her from below.

"Sorry, I can't here you over the sound of victory!"

She looked down, and saw Guio looking up and laughing, the he started frowning, then a look fear came over his face, and he started running for real, reverting to all fours, trying to get away.

"RUN! Lizzy, Fly away!" He yelled at her, scared out of his mind.

She didn't understand why he yelled that, but she did when she turned.

There was a ship, and not just any, a Batarian slaver vessel. Her father had shown them to her on his omni tool, and she knew why her friend was running. She flew down, trying to reach the ground, but she heard a whistling sound, and turned to see a net coming right for her.

"No!" She screamed out, the net hitting her, causing her to fall directly to the ground. She screamed when she felt the tiny bones of her wings break. She tried to pull away to get free, but the net had magnetic ball locks, she was stuck, helpless to watch as people were captured, killed, or raped.

She heard a noise beside her, and saw her brother trying to undo the mag locks, to no avail.

"Go, get out here while you can Insects, at least you'll live!" She told him, trying not draw attention by yelling.

"No, I have to get you out, you can-" he stopped due to sheer fear at the voice that sounded behind him.

"Why hello there, looks like I caught some good meat with that net, and some of it ain't even in the net!" The grizzled Batarian started laughing.

Elizabeth had no idea what to do, she was stuck, but her brother was facing the slaver himself.

"Hah, but you, to be truthful, you'll never do at the market. Your wearing glasses, means you can't see well, no one's gonna buy you. Sadly no money in the slave market, though, I have read that you guys were considered good eating way back. Maybe I'll get some money from selling your carcass at the fish market." The Batarian smiled, raising his pistol.

Elizabeth was screaming,"No, no, no!" at the Batarian, watching the pistol move upwards in slow motion, until she finally heard the trigger get pulled. She saw a small stream of light, then a few drips of blood on the ground, the still goofy Dolphin grin on her brothers face.

She started crying, a mark about the size of a pin appeared on his head, the mechsuit still holding him up. The Batarian moved in to pull him out of the suit, and drag her back to the ship.

"But before I do anything, I think I'll get rid of some... unnecessary spices to the meat." She felt him grip the base of her wings.

"No, no please, no-AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" her scream piercing the sounds of yelling elsewhere. She nearly passed out, but somehow maintained consciousness long enough to make out his face, it having been blocked out by shadow before. He was missing his lower right eye, a large, three clawed gash, still bleeding heavily, across his head, and a small tattoo of a scantily clad Batarian woman on his right cheek. In his hands he held her wings, the beautiful wings she groomed every night, their bases singed from the omniblade he cut them off with.

"I'm gonna enjoy the meat tonight," he told her while she was lying on her stomach, unable to move from pain.

She heard something, a deep throated roar. The Batarian stood up, and saw a predatory animal heading for him. It had red feathers the color of dried blood, massive arms with 3, foot long claws, a long neck, a hooked beak, firey eyes, a long tail with an armor tip at the end, and a Sanhanae riding it, holding an energy weapon, pointed at him. He then ran in the other direction, still holding her wings, heading straight for the ship. The last thing Elizabeth Shepard saw before passing out, was the faces of her family.


	4. 4

Elizabeth Shepard woke up screaming. It was the dream again. The memory. She got up, checked her clock, 2:30 AM, went to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. She had changed since that day.

She now stood at 6'5, had straight red hair, with dyed orange and yellow streaks, down to her shoulders, many scars from fire fights over the years, highly developed muscles, and a small UTA insignia tattoo on her right breast, the four races holding each others hands. She could see the tattoo, mainly because she was wearing only a pair of boxers.

She turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water in her face, then stared into her own eyes, like she did every night. The same jade green, with a few flecks of brightest red and vivid blue.

She went back to her room, nearly tripping on a beer bottle on the way, and just curled up in bed, trying to stay awake as long as possible, to avoid the dreams. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep, the closest thing to peace she got. She woke up to an alarm, 9:35. She grunted and punched the glowing holo button.

She slowly got out of bed, giving her alarm a death stare. As she started through her room, she once again nearly tripped over the same goddamned beer bottle. "I've got get a fucking maid, or start caring about how my apartment looks." She walked down the stairs, stopping at a framed picture of her family. 'I'm sorry,' she thought, then shook herself and went to the kitchen.

"Look at what Commander Elizabeth Shepard is doing right now, feeling sorry for her self."

She turned, and saw Admiral Hackett standing in her kitchen, dressed in UTA military garb. She realized she was pretty much naked except for the boxers, then realized she didn't care.

She just went over the fridge and pulled out some leftover Chinese takeout, sweet and spicy chicken dumplings, and went to the countertop.

"What do you want Hackett?" She asked, her beautiful voice full of disdain.

"You know, I made a promise to your father Liz, should anything happen to him, or your mother, I would take care of you as though you were my own daughter. And I have, and it's my duty to get you out of this, funk, I guess would be a good word."

She lowered her head, and couldn't look him in the eyes.

"But as an Admiral, I'm telling you to get off your stubborn ass, what happened on Iolus was not your fault. And I have a mission that you would be a critical part of."

She considered for a moment, then asked,"And tell me what this mission is, like countless other spec ops missions I've went through,"

"There's been a disturbance on Eden Prime, and we haven't been able to get through to them."

She perked up at that, Eden Prime was one of the UTAs most defended colonies, due mainly to its strategic value, and partly because of the large number of Prothean ruins.

"And you want me to go, don't you?"

"Well, you would get your own ship," he smirked at her. Her already steely features tightened.

"A bribe? That's how you plan on having me do something I never wanted to do again? I retired for a reason Hackett." She said, glaring daggers at the holographic image.

Hackett smiled, and shook his head. "I'm not bribing, I want to see you get out of this depressive spell and see the REAL Elizabeth Shepard come back."

For a long moment she stared downward, picking at the food in front of her. Finally, she looked back up.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"Come by my office, understood Commander?"

She smiled at him for the first time in a long time,"Understood Admiral."

His hologram disappeared, and she was alone. She finished her breakfast, and went upstairs, stopping at a framed picture. It showed her at 7, wings out, her brother hugging her, that same goofy Dolphin grin on his face, and their parents smiling at them.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough then, but now, I'll make sure what happened to us, won't happen again."

Her fingers brushed her father's face. She suppressed a sob, and went to go get her uniform on.

CODEX ENTRY: UTA PLANETS: Iolus ( Previously named Roloposch)

A medium sized garden world, it was initially discovered by Batarian Hegemony, but was later abandoned due to attacks from a primitive silicon based species based on the planets moon. The reason the primitives drove off the Hegemony was that they could use crystalline based technology to kill non silicate life forms using intense waves of ultrasonic vibrations.

The UTA later discovered the world and made diplomatic relations with natives who call themselves the Hyog.

Iolus's surface is covered in numerous mountain ranges and deep valleys, with only one ocean. Though despite this the world is very fertile due to the massive insectoid life forms which continually turn the soil, distributing water to the massive three hundred foot tall trees. Because of the massive heights and cutting winds, the world was renamed after an ancient Terran deity of wind. To live on Iolus one would need to be adapted for either flight or gliding, such as the case with many of the beings within the UTA.

CODEX ENTRY: Iolus Incident

On Iolus there was a recent bout with civil war, caused in large part by an Asari Matriarch by the name of Denica F'Levik. She had gained a large following by proclaiming the people of the world to be oppressed by the UTA. Though the main reason she gained such a large following though, was due to the fact that only about 7 percent of the population was wealthy, including her. She incited widespread rebellion and finally took the planet's governor and his family in a hostage situation. Commander Elizabeth Shepard, a highly decorated N7 spec ops soldier, and child of late high ranking UTA official Rex Shepard, tried to take control of the situation, but accidentally caused the death of the governor and his wife. Matriarch Denica was taken into custody and the governor's daughter was was given over to immediate family.


End file.
